Category Archives: Game Recaps - Page 3

25 July 2013 – Brooklyn Cyclones at Lowell Spinners

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Rain, rain, go away, the Cyclones won’t be back here on any other day

While the rain stopped in time for Tuesday’s game, the weather wasn’t quite so cooperative tonight.  The rain started around 3pm and was well underway by the time the gates opened at 6pm and all of the Jack Kerouac bobbleheads were snapped up by people who probably weren’t planning on watching the game anyway.  By the time I got there, the only way to describe the stadium, the field, and the few die-hards ready to see a game was “soggy mess.”

Box Score

By game time, with the rain picking up, the announcement we were all waiting for was made.  The tarp wouldn’t be coming off the field, the game was cancelled, and you can try your luck exchanging your tickets for tickets to an upcoming home game.  (But only in person at the box office, which is open weekdays from 10am-4pm.  In Lowell.  Not exactly what I would call convenience.)  With no more Cyclones games on the schedule and not a whole lot of room in the NYPL schedule to cram another game in, this game will not be made up.  Good thing I got my Gavin Cecchini and L.J. Mazzilli autographs on Tuesday.  Barring something unexpected, this concludes our minor league game coverage for the year.  See you next year.

23 July 2013 – Brooklyn Cyclones at Lowell Spinners

Posted by on 24 July 2013 Comments Off on 23 July 2013 – Brooklyn Cyclones at Lowell Spinners

Missed opportunities abound in the Cyclones’ return to Lowell

The last time the Cyclones visited Lowell, they had a rotation full of all-stars,  This time around, the arms aren’t quite as hot.  This is the New York Penn League though, so you don’t really need a 95mph fastball and precise control to get the job done, just one or the other is usually more than enough.  Last night, Spinners starter Mario Alcantara brought the heater while Cyclones starter Seth Lugo had the control, combining for four scoreless innings en route to a 2-1 Cyclones loss.

Box Score

Yeah, it was that kind of game

Offense is at a premium in the NYPL and the Brooklyn Cyclones should be reminded of that with their return to Lowell.  After all, they scored only a single run in each of the three games they played here last year.  You have to go back to September 1, 2011 for a game with multiple runs, a 7-1 victory to close out the Spinners’ home season.  So when Alcantara walked the first two Cyclones batters to start the game, it was the perfect opportunity to take control of the game and not add another 1-run game to the streak.  The first of several opportunities to be squandered over the course of the game.  Three outs later, it was Lugo’s turn to show his stuff.

That stuff isn’t particularly overpowering, but it will get the job done at this level.  Lugo’s speed tops out at 90mph, but his control gives him an edge with plenty of called strikes.  And balls put in play.  It’s the swinging strikes that aren’t part of his repertoire that prove to be a problem for Lugo, but some solid defense, particularly from second baseman L.J. Mazzilli, went a long way toward keeping the Spinners off the board.  Mazzilli watched a grounder roll into the outfield in the bottom of the first (which is listed as a fly ball in the play-by-play for some reason, must be one of those really low-flying ones…) but was otherwise on the mark for the rest of the game, fielding seven ground balls and one pop fly out of the 18 balls put in play for outs.

Familiar sights at last night’s game

Lowell threatened again in the second with a pair of two-out singles, but that would be the end of the offense in the first four innings except for a throwing error that put Alex Sanchez on second with two outs in the top of the fourth.  Brooklyn once again couldn’t make use of a runner in scoring position and then Lowell went down in order in the bottom half, the second of five times they would end an inning without a runner.

Colton Plaia singling to put runners at the corners

James Roche set things back up the way they were left in the top of the 4th with a leadoff double to start the 5th.  Colton Plaia followed with a fly ball to shallow center that nobody could get to, putting runners at the corners with no outs for Anthony Chavez, who struck out.  Patrick Biondi followed that with a broken bat single, plating Roche and sending Plaia to third.  After either an attempt to steal home or a botched hit and run was stopped by a foul ball, Biondi pushed his luck with his second stolen base attempt of the night and Juan Gamboa struck out to end the inning.  Three times in the first five innings, Brooklyn stranded a runner in scoring position.  With Alcantara exiting the game after the 5th inning, they wouldn’t get another chance.

If in the 1st you do succeed, don’t try again in the 5th with a runner on third

By the bottom of the 6th, Lugo clearly didn’t have his best stuff anymore.  He had his best pitch sequence in the 5th on a 74-90-79-82 with two called strikes, a ball, and a swinging strike to finish the strikeout.  In the 6th though, his speed was down around 85 and his control just wasn’t there anymore.  The Spinners got their leadoff man on with a slow roller that Lugo and Mazzilli both tried for but couldn’t reach in time to get the out.  The apparent confusion on that play proved costly as a sac bunt and a groundout put the tying run on third with two outs and Lugo issued his first walk of the night.  With nobody warming in the pen, it was up to Lugo to get out of this mess.  He responded by giving up a two-run double that gave the Spinners the lead.  Lugo ended the inning on a called strike three, but Brooklyn’s one run wouldn’t be enough anymore.

Kevin McGowan pitching a 1-2-3 8th inning

And that was pretty much the game.  If not for some substandard fielding from the Spinners, there wouldn’t be anything else to say.  Lugo put the Spinners down in order in the 7th thanks to the defense behind him and Kevin McGowan did the same in the 8th with a pair of strikeouts and the requisite groundout to Mazzilli.  Gamboa singled for Brooklyn in the top of the 8th, but then Mazzilli hit a double play ball that for some reason Lowell second baseman Cleuluis Rondon couldn’t hold on to long enough to make the throw to first.  Oberste hit a routine grounder to short with one out in the top of the 9th, but Lowell shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin forgot to put his glove under the ball.  Both times, the runner was stranded at first, leaving the final score 2-1 Spinners.

Matt Oberste putting one just under the shortstop’s glove for the final Brooklyn baserunner of the night

7 July 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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Dude, where’s my strike zone?

The Fisher Cats brought out the big guns for this game

Coming off a pair of close games and a blowout win, you might expect a decent performance in game 4.  Then again, your SAT prep class may have taught you how to complete this sequence: one-run win, one-run loss, 11-run win, …  Sometimes, life follows predictable patterns.

Box Score

One of the few breaks the B-Mets would catch in this game

Like last night, Daniel Muno started things off with a ground ball to the shortstop.  Unlike last night, the play was made without incident.  Josh Rodriguez managed to beat out the throw for an infield single, but that would be the last Binghamton baserunner until Muno came up again in the third.  Like Rodriguez, Muno would be stranded at first.

Erik Goeddel was never really expected to get this far.  Drafted out of college in the 24th round, Goeddel was a longshot to succeed as a starting pitcher into the high minors.  His performance, while not stellar, has been consistent at each level and has even gotten him a Bowman autograph card (something that Rafael Montero can’t boast, though Reese Havens and Brad Holt can and we’ve seen how they turned out).  If he continues like this though, he could be on a trajectory more like Brad Holt than Rafael Montero.

Tovar knows how to position himself

Goeddel made it through the first two innings without incident, largely due to getting balls put weakly into play, like a pair of pop flies to Wilfredo Tovar in the bottom of the first.  His fastball was steady at 92mph, but his command was erratic from the start.  The Fisher Cats could count on at least three balls in every at bat, a fact they took advantage of with two walks in the bottom of the second.  This continued into the bottom of the third when Goeddel loaded the bases on three more walks for Clint Robinson.  You may remember Robinson from his 3-run home run off Noah Syndergaard that accounted for all of New Hampshire’s scoring in their 14-3 loss.  Nobody was terribly surprised to see him hit a grand slam this time.  Goeddel escaped the inning on two strikeouts and a groundout to Tovar, but things were not looking good.

Allan Dykstra, after going 0-4 with 4 strikeouts the night before, put the B-Mets on the board with a solo shot in the 4th.  Travis Taijeron would do the same in the 7th, with 10 straight outs between them.  While not quite as bad as the 12 straight outs in the previous game, the lack of sustained offense on either end kept the Mets in a big hole.  One that kept getting deeper.

Wilfredo Tovar was removed from the game for unknown reasons in the 4th, with Daniel Muno shifting to shortstop, Josh Rodriguez taking over at second, and Richard Lucas entering the game at third.  Rodriguez’s range to the left was quickly tested by a ground ball he couldn’t get to, but the inning ended without incident.  Two walks in the 5th set up a big rally for the Fisher Cats, with an RBI single chasing Goeddel from the game.  Goeddel’s fastball was still sitting at 92, but he just couldn’t get it into the strike zone.  His 75mph curve had more success, but Goeddel kept going back to the fastball and paid the price.  Ryan Fraser picked up where Goeddel left off with two more hits driving in three more runs and the game starting to get out of hand.

And then the bottom of the 7th happened.  Taijeron’s home run in the top half cut New Hampshire’s lead to a mere 6 runs.  That’s a reasonable amount to negate in one inning, as the Fisher Cats would go on to demonstrate.  Two walks, a HBP, and two home runs was all it took to knock Fraser out of the game.  For the second night in a row, Adam Kolarek was called in for mop-up duty, though this time with a 10-run deficit instead of an 11-run lead.  A single and a home run later, we were back where we started.  Which was an Andy Burns solo home run.  Can’t anyone on this pitching staff give up fewer than 3 runs?

Meanwhile, the B-Mets offense wasn’t quite ready to give up.  A wild pitch followed by a single by Daniel Muno chipped away at the Fisher Cats’ lead in the top of the 8th.  It would all come down to the 9th, but the Mets would need three outs to get there.  The solution would come in the form of a familiar face from years past.

Pedro Feliciano: Arm still attached

Pedro Feliciano wanted the ball day in and day out.  In his days in the majors with the Mets, he set the team’s record for appearances in a season and then set out to break his own record.  He broke himself in the process, as the Yankees found out when they signed him to a two-year contract and gave the Mets a compensation pick that they turned into Michael Fulmer.  Feliciano never pitched for the Yankees; his overuse finally caught up to him once he changed uniforms.  With nothing to lose, the Mets brought Perpetual Pedro back on a minor league deal to see if he had anything left.  What he has is an 83mph offering that isn’t going to miss many bats but can result in outs on balls in play.  Feliciano retired the Fisher Cats in order in the 8th on 10 pitches.

Xorge Carrillo with the final RBI of the night

The Mets wasted little time in the 9th setting things up for a comeback.  Three singles loaded the bases with one out for Xorge Carrillo, who drove in a run with yet another single.  A passed ball on a swinging strike two to Richard Lucas advanced the runners and brought in another run.  Lucas would strike out, leaving it up to Daniel Muno.  With the score 16-5, Muno grounded out to leave the series even at two games and 31 runs apiece.

6 July 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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The B-Mets hold a home run derby on MLB All-Star selection day

Over, and over, and over, and over, and over…

The first few at-bats of a game can set the tone for the rest of the night. That was certainly the case last night when the B-Mets recorded two home runs before the Fisher Cats recorded the game’s first out. Noah Syndergaard, due to start next Sunday’s Futures Game for the USA team, made his Manchester debut against his former franchise in the Saturday night spotlight previously held by Rafael Montero. A two-out home run in the bottom of the 6th gave the Fisher Cats three runs and would have made this a close game, if the Fisher Cats had managed to retire 27 straight Mets batters after the opening act. They only managed to get 12 before the game got out of control.

Box Score

Runner on first? Big mistake.

While the Mets took almost half of the game off offensively after their first two home runs, the Fisher Cats didn’t fare much better against Syndergaard. The Fisher Cats singled off of Syndergaard in the first, third, and fourth, but Syndergaard answered back each time with either a pair of strikeouts or a double play. With a fastball that started at 95 and only got better as the game went on, the Fisher Cats just couldn’t keep up. Syndergaard almost seemed bored if there wasn’t a runner in play.

Wilfredo Tovar, power hitter?

The fifth inning would be Syndergaard’s first real test of the night. Well, the top of the fifth anyway, which went on long enough to make inactivity a concern. Blake Forsythe broke the streak of 12 straight Mets outs with a double off the outfield wall and Joe Bonfe drove him home with a single. Wilfredo Tovar, not known for his power, cleared the bases with his first home run as a B-Met. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with no outs, but somebody flipped the switch back to “outs” and three straight ended the inning.

With Syndergaard’s fastball cooled back down to 95, New Hampshire got a runner to second base for the first time of the night with a pair of singles in the bottom of the 5th. That was as far as they would get though, as Wilfredo Tovar tagged the lead runner out on the next play and Syndergaard ended the inning on a strikeout. He opened the bottom of the 7th with another strikeout, changing speeds from 79 to 96 and back down to 78. Wilfredo Tovar then misjudged a ground ball on the bounce to put Brett Lawrie on base, followed by an A.J. Jimenez single. Syndergaard went back into strikeout mode on Brad Glenn, but Clint Robinson was able to send an 80mph curveball over the right field wall for three unearned runs. Another strikeout ended the inning, but the B-Mets had lost half of their lead.

Until Darrell Ceciliani added a pair of runs on yet another home run in the 7th. The Fisher Cats tried to rally back in the bottom half with a single and Syndergaard’s first walk of the night, but we know how this one goes. A strikeout (Syndergaard’s 7th of the night) and a double play (3rd of the night, line drive straight to Wilfredo Tovar and a short toss to Muno to get the runner at second) ended the threat and Syndergaard’s night. But at 8-3 after 7 innings, this game was far from over.

A bit too far for many of the fans who were waiting for the postgame fireworks show. Part of the problem was the top of the 8th, which is when all hope for a Fisher Cats comeback was lost. Two pitchers, 5 walks, one strikeout, a home run, a triple, a single, and a sac fly. I probably lost your attention with just that sentence, imagine what it was like to be there in person. The next six outs went by quickly with just a HBP worth noting (erased on a double play). And we’re on to the bottom of the 9th.

Bottom of the 9th, two outs, bases loaded, down by 11. This is not exactly the situation you dream of when you’re a kid. With Adam Loewen facing Adam Kolarek, the Fisher Cats had done their best to deny their fans a short wait for fireworks. Loewen watched strike three from Kolarek and that was the game.

2 June 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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Pesky Puello steals the show (and second base)

It was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium on a hot and sunny June afternoon.  The day started off with a Pesky Pole bobblehead giveaway, police dog demonstrations, a pipeband, and police motorcycles circling the field.  When the police left the field, the theft began.  Cesar Puello stole second base in the first inning and the B-Mets stole the game on a five-run 5th inning to take the series with a 7-2 win.  Their reward was a 7-hour bus ride back to Binghamton with a 2-game lead in their division.

Box score

The first three innings followed a pretty standard script for both teams.  Somebody strikes out, somebody gets on base, and the runner usually advances to second somehow.  Back and forth we went until the bottom of the 4th, when the Fisher Cats started things off with their first extra base hit of the game, a double by Clint Robinson.  A bunt moved Robinson to third and a fly ball that Darrell Ceciliani couldn’t get to drove him in to give the Fisher Cats the lead.  Jacob deGrom shut down the Fisher Cats offense from there with an infield fly and a strikeout.  His 92mph fastball didn’t miss many bats, but deGrom still managed 6 strikeouts, mostly with what appeared to be a trick pitch that set the ball on an invisible 4-inch tee on the plate.  Or maybe that’s just a camera trick.

Darrell Ceciliani turning an intentional walk into a run

The B-Mets answered back in the 5th with the type of offensive explosion typically reserved for Deck McGuire starts.  Alonzo Harris, in his second game back from a finger injury, finally got his bunting dialed in and set down his second hard bunt of the day, dropping it right down the first base line, drawing the first baseman in to field it, and getting to the bag before anyone could cover first.  Harris advanced to second on a single and was forced out at third when Wilfredo Tovar’s bunt attempt didn’t quite go as planned.  Daniel Muno singled and Cesar Puello doubled to give the B-Mets the lead and put runners on second and third with two outs for Cory Vaughn, who had struck out twice already and would finish the day with 4 Ks.  Vaughn was intentionally walked to load the bases for Darrell Ceciliani.  Ceciliani took advantage of the extra baserunner with a fly ball that got past a diving Brian Van Kirk for a triple, putting the B-Mets up 5-1.

Neither team did much of anything over the next inning.  Cesar Puello caught another fly ball, deGrom got two more strikeouts, and Harris abandoned the nothing-but-bunts plan and struck out.  DeGrom’s luck finally ran out in the bottom of the 6th when Clint Robinson sent one over the 400ft wall in center for a solo home run.  When the next batter resulted in deGrom’s third walk of the game, Adam Kolarek was called in to take over.  Kolarek retired all five batters he faced, Jack Leathersich pitched another perfect 8th inning (only one strikeout this time though), and Jeff Walters came in to finish the game.  More on that later.

Ceciliani drove Puello in with a triple, then Puello did it himself with a home run

Cesar Puello added a solo home run in the 7th to leave him a triple shy of the cycle.  He wouldn’t get it, though teammates Ceciliani and Richard Lucas would both triple in the game, Ceciliani earlier in the 5th inning and Lucas in the 8th.  Lucas would go on to score on a wild pitch that bounced out in front of the catcher, putting the B-Mets up 7-2.  Puello would pop out with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the 9th and the B-Mets would strand all three runners, leaving it up to Walters to wrap things up.

Cesar Puello, with the glove, in right field

Actually, the game was in Cesar Puello’s hands in the bottom of the 9th, quite literally.  Puello was all over this game like any number of offensive stereotypes of people who are all over things.  Already 3 for 5 with a double, home run, stolen base, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, you would think that he would be satisfied.  You obviously don’t know Puello.  He made the first out by beating out Muno and Lucas to a fly ball next to the Fisher Cats bullpen and then just missed getting to a line drive in time to make the third out.  That put runners on first and second for Walters, but Puello bailed him out by grabbing a routine fly ball to end the game.  Puello caught five outs to go with his exploits at the plate and on the basepaths, ranging from the foul line to center and making everyone else get out of his way.  It was a solid game all around following an 0-4, 3K night on Friday and a night off on Saturday.  It looks like there just might be some decent outfield prospects in the Mets system after all, though Puello still has a ways to go before he’s ready for the majors.

1 June 2013 – Binghamton Mets at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

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While the big league Mets fall to the fish, the B-Mets blank the Fisher Cats

Rafael Montero made his second start following a spot start at AAA and did not disappoint, pitching 7 scoreless innings in a 6-0 B-Mets win.  One day after an 8-7 loss where minor mistakes made all the difference, the B-Mets defense was in fine form.  Aggressive baserunning kept the runs coming, Cesar Puello got the night off after striking out three times the night before, and Alonzo Harris was back in the lineup after a nasty finger injury.

Box score

Rafael Montero was the star of the night, and for good reason.  His time at AA is clearly coming to an end, with Zack Wheeler’s major league callup likely a major factor.  His fastball was holding steady at 92-93 over all 7 innings, with the occasional 94 in the early innings.  On top of that, he executed a quick pickoff move for any runners who managed to reach base and was remarkably fast to get in place to back up at third if any runners headed for second.  Even with only four strikeouts on the night, his instincts and focus were top notch and kept the Fisher Cats from scoring.  They came closest in the 5th, when a pair of singles and a balk put two runners in scoring position with two outs.  Montero struck out Kevin Pillar to end the threat.  Those would be the last New Hampshire runners in scoring position for the night and that would also end the night for Pillar and Fisher Cats manager Gary Allenson, who were ejected for arguing the strikeout.

You need some offense to win a game though, so it was good that the Mets got all the runs they would need in the first inning on a Cory Vaughn double.  They would go on to add at least one run in half of the remaining innings while holding the Fisher Cats scoreless.

Alonzo Harris was back in action after getting the stitches out of his finger, which he shared in full detail on Twitter.  Harris was clearly eager to get back out on the field, jumping into a bunt in his first at bat but failing to beat the throw.  He would go 0-5 on the night, reaching base only once when a bad throw to first broke up what should have been a double play.  Harris was later stranded at second, ending his baserunning for the night.  Despite the poor results, his enthusiasm was nice to see.

Richard Lucas and Alonzo Harris pose for photos before the game

Gathering at the dugout railing to watch, um, water bottle stacking?